Thalaivii, the Indian film starring Kangana Ranaut, and its makers are facing flak from the multiplex chains Inox and PVR for choosing to release the film on OTT within two weeks of its theatrical premiere.
While Mint reported on Thursday that PVR and INOX had refused to screen the Hindi version of Thalaivii because of this issue, a report in The Times of India on Friday states that the producers of the film and the theatre owners have resolved their differences and the Ranaut-starrer is on track to hit the big screen on September 10. They reportedly came to an agreement after the producers dropped their plans for a quick OTT release.
Silverscreen India reached out to Inox for a statement regarding the same and is yet to receive a response.
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Thalaivii, which is based on the life of late actor and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, will be released in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. It is directed by filmmaker Vijay and produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shaailesh R Singh.
The Mint report states that the Hindi version was scheduled to hit Netflix within two weeks of the theatrical release and the multiplex chains were demanding a minimum four-week window. The Tamil and Telugu versions, on the other hand, have been acquired by Amazon Prime Video, the report states.
According to the report, the decision by the producers was taken fearing that the pandemic would hit the film’s box-office returns.
Talking to Mint, producer Induri said, “A quicker OTT premiere will help safeguard our investment better.”
“We are in the business of filmmaking and our first priority is to recover the investment made for this film. The easiest thing for us to do would have been to opt for a direct-to-digital release and in fact, we had received many offers. But we have waited to bring this film to the big screen,” he added.
Ranaut took to her social media account and spoke about issue as well. “No films are choosing theatres, very few and very brave like my producers are compromising on huge profits and letting go off exclusive streaming options only for the love of cinema,” she said. “It’s our fundamental right to recover the cost of our film,” she added.
The actor also noted that while the Hindi version was slated to only get a two-week window between theatrical and OTT release, the South Indian versions would get a four-week window.
Ranaut further wrote, “This is unfair and cruel in these testing times when major territories like Maharashtra are also shut. Please let’s help each other in order to save theatres.”
She also pointed out that films like Master and Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, which took the same route, were supported for their decision.